


One Night, One Kiss

by tiggeryumyum



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-31 02:26:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15109886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiggeryumyum/pseuds/tiggeryumyum
Summary: Kamasaki is straight. More or less.





	One Night, One Kiss

"Volleyball again?" 

Moniwa's mother stands in the door of his bedroom, basket resting against her hip. 

Moniwa, holding his new jersey - his _captain's_ jersey - grins. "We've got strong first years on the team this time! One's named Koganegawa, he's almost two meters – "

His mother sighs, shaking her head. "Just try not to get your heart broken again." 

Ah. Well. Moniwa does have a bad habit of that. Twice a year, usually. 

Even with their reputation, Date Tech has never made it to nationals. They get close, a lot, but Moniwa didn't join the team expecting to beat Seijoh and Shiratorizawa. 

In junior high, he figured out that if he tossed a successful set, it made his teammates jump and holler in celebration. Nothing compared to that kind of euphoria, it was better than the quiet discussions in the geology club, and way better than the hectic energy waiting at home.

He wanted more of that feeling, so he kept playing into high school. 

"Keep tossing to me like that, and we'll definitely go to nationals!" Kamasaki _did_ plan on beating Shiratorizawa and Seijoh, he said so loudly, proudly, and he was planning on nationals. He talked about it all the time, and wasn't embarrassed about it. 

As a first year, Moniwa didn't speak his ambitions, because he didn't even really dare to think them, or form them beyond amorphous, wispy musings. But Kamasaki was so shameless, it seemed almost easy to believe it might actually happen, and eventually Moniwa started anticipating it, too, looking forward to it, nearly tasting it. Sure that if he worked hard enough, he would get it. 

But he didn't. He didn't, and didn't, and didn't, and didn't – and then he retires. Five heart breaks. Five defeats his mother warned him about, that he didn't properly safeguard against.

The sixth is a bit more melancholy, a softer, more distant thing, when Koganegawa was pushed onto the court still half-baked. 

Moniwa knew – more or less, that it was unlikely for Date Tech to make it to nationals with a first year setting, but he'd given up his spot for them to grow, and he just – he had hoped. It would be worth something. Like the tiny brass button, plucked from his school uniform, and pressed into Kamasaki's palm will be worth something. He hopes. 

"What's this?"

Kamasaki lifts his hand to his face, peering at the button. He laughs, jovial and delighted when he finally places it. 

"Ha! Who's the lucky girl? Hey – I'll pass this on for you, but you should confess yourself," Kamasaki advises, sagely. "Girls like that."

"Right, right, I'll just – " Moniwa laughs too, but his is an awkward, forced noise, high and horrified. 

"Wait… " Kamasaki peers closer, this time at Moniwa's face.

"Thanks for the advice!" Moniwa grabs the button from Kamasaki's still open palm, turns around and walks quickly away.

"Wait – "

Moniwa does not wait. 

Kamasaki starts jogging to catch up, so Moniwa starts running. 

"Oi! Oi, oi, oi!!!" Kamasaki is barking. He's gaining speed – Kamasaki is faster than Moniwa, he's got a longer gait, but Moniwa has the power of terror-filled, self-preservation on his side, and it helps launch him up the first flight of stairs he finds, bounding up two at a time. His inhuman burst of energy starts running out by the fourth floor, and by the fifth it's a sheer stubbornness that keeps him moving. 

"Oi – " Kamasaki huffs, a few steps below. "You were – confessing – to me?"

" _Sh!_ " Moniwa hisses. Voices carry in the stairwell. 

"Yeah, but – you were, right?" Kamasaki asks, still breathless. "It was – for me?"

"I wouldn't… expect you… to confess to someone else… for me," Moniwa gasps. He's not upset about Kamasaki's assumption, though. It's exactly the sort of thing first year Moniwa would've done. But he's a man now. He's gotten braver, and more assertive, partly because of the 186cm giant behind him, leaning hard on the handrail as he continues the low speed chase up the steps. 

Thinking this makes Moniwa feel ridiculous for running. The fear of Kamasaki reacting poorly seems to be misplaced, or at least he doesn't _sound_ angry or disgusted. Moniwa, gasping for air, makes it to the last landing before the roof, seven flights, and stumbles, reaching the wall and sliding down to his ass. Kamasaki, who has bent so deeply at the waist as he climbs that he's basically crawling up the steps, slumps right where he is, one exhausting hand slapping against the landing. 

"Go… out… with me."

Moniwa, panting, stares at Kamasaki's hand. It's inches away from his ankle. "You're straight."

"So?" Kamasaki says, and in one last burst of energy, hauls himself up onto the landing as well. "You confessed to me. I take you out on a date."

"What, is that your system?"

"Yes."

Moniwa blinks at Kamasaki's utterly serious tone. He'd been ready to laugh off the implication of Kamasaki's many suitors, but really, it's not that surprising. 

Tall, blond, and loud, Kamasaki is hard to ignore. Annoying to some, sure, but wherever he goes, he's noticed. He's also not repulsive – he's neither terrible or amazing in class, neither gorgeous or ugly. He's a nice guy, Moniwa can visualize it easily: his female classmates testing the waters with confessions and invitations to spend lunch together. 

And it's easy to add this new piece: Kamasaki taking out each of those hopeful girls. It's the sort of awkward situation that makes Moniwa's palms sweat at the very thought, but Kamasaki would barrel through, bold and confident, unbothered by any uncomfortable silence or expectation he might be setting up. 

And now Kamasaki is holding out his hand, waiting, expectant.

Even though Kamasaki is straight. Even though the background on his phone is an American actress with large breasts and hips, when Moniwa is not American, with no substantial breasts or hips to speak of. Kamasaki might have good intentions here, but this is only going to hurt.

 _"Just try not to get your heart broken again,"_ his mother's voice cautions in him, again, but.

Slowly, Moniwa hands Kamasaki his second button one more time.

"Where?" Moniwa asks.

"Lemme think about it," Kamasaki says, then grins, holding Moniwa's button in a fist of victory, like he's got something lucky in there, a prize, something he's very happy about. "Thanks."

~

Kamasaki picks the zoo.

A restaurant is the obvious choice, that's where he's taken girls in the past, to quiet, expensive places, where waiters creep stealthily around the table with bread and water, careful not to interrupt their meal. Kamasaki and his date would discuss mundane, soft subjects like classes and hobbies, keeping hyper-polite, neither wanting to offend. Kamasaki tried to figure out what each pause and movement they made meant, and could feel himself being scrutinized in the same way, and the whole atmosphere usually ended up far more intense than he intended.

It's not a scene he can imagine Moniwa in. 

Kamasaki likes girls. He likes all kinds of girls, and he likes their mysterious rituals: how they go to the bathroom in groups, how they organize their pens so carefully at their desk, their looping, flourished handwriting in their notes, their sweet, fruit smelling shampoos and perfumes.

Moniwa is not a girl, and even picturing Moniwa on the opposite side of the table at a such a restaurant feels odd. Kamasaki shared rooms with Moniwa at training camps and away games, he's seen Moniwa in the early morning with hair untamed and messy, eyes crusted over and puffy from sleep, drool on his cheek, and Moniwa on during practice, so frazzled and upset by their kohai that his eyes go wild and his mouth turns into a long thin line. It might not be fair, but these are the Moniwas he pictures on the other side of the table at a restaurant, and it's a comical scene at best.

Beside all that, Moniwa is smart. 

Moniwa was the only one in the volleyball club planning on college, at least before Onagawa joined, and he reads whole books over a weekend, he follows the news, and Kamasaki figures, you can learn stuff at a zoo. Moniwa will enjoy the zoo. 

He agrees when Kamasaki suggests it over a text, anyway.

It was another long winter, so it's cold but not super cold – Kamasaki regrets the heavy coat he chose for their date, feeling the sweat start to bud at the back of his neck. He wants to get out of the heated train before he sweats too much, then remembers what - who - will be waiting for him at his stop.

Nerves start to jostle, loud and unpleasant in his gut. He doesn't want to screw it up.

Yeah, he's been on dates, but not many of the girls have accepted a second one, and those who didn't usually avoided his gaze in the halls from then on. He doesn't want to make a habit of dating Moniwa, but the possibility of Moniwa avoiding his gaze after this lurks at the back of his mind. 

This line of thought makes him go from nervous to nauseated. He starts to imagine Moniwa at not just the worst Kamasaki's seen, but the worst he can imagine, an irrational thing that Kamasaki will be unable to handle, and who will hate Kamasaki at the end of this – 

"Kamasaki?" 

Moniwa. Standing at the gate of the zoo. He's wearing jeans and a sweater, a scarf bunched around his neck. There's a bit of pink on his cheeks and ears from the cold, and his head is tilted to the side in question.

He looks cute.

"Yasushi," Kamasaki blurts.

"What?"

"We're – we're on a date," Kamasaki says. "So you should call me Yasushi."

Moniwa scrunches his nose. "Really?"

"Yeah!" Kamasaki says. The relief is intense enough to make Kamasaki feel giddy and bold. What was he worried about? It's not like they're friends for no reason. This is Moniwa, his friend, who yes – now that he thinks about it a bit calmer, has been cute in the past just as often as he's been a dork. Sometimes both at once. 

He can do this.

Ready to make a grand gesture at the gate, paying for their admittance, Kamasaki is undercut when Moniwa pulls out two tickets.

"I just wanted something to do with myself while waiting," Moniwa explains, a little sheepishly.

"Wait – how long have you been here?"

"Not long!!" Moniwa says, both hands up. 

"Aw man, you should've texted," Kamasaki groans, after pulling out his phone and seeing the time. He's almost twenty minutes late. Also, Moniwa did text. Ten minutes ago.

 **Moniwa** :  
Still coming?

"Shit, sorry," Kamasaki says, but Moniwa is already dismissing his apology.

The zoo is nice, cages built to look like massive, open spaces that just so happen to be trapping an animal inside. Kamasaki was right about Moniwa being smart, but apparently wrong about him being able to learn anything at the zoo. He's quiet through the first enclosures they pass by, but as his nerves start to settle, he shares little facts. 

"At full speed, a bear can outrun a horse," he says. And, "Tiger stripes are like finger prints, each one is unique." Then, "Hippopotamuses are too heavy to swim, they actually bounce along the bottom of a river." Also, "Koalas defend their territory by singing." Plus, "The biggest penguin ever found was over 200 cm tall."

"You're shitting me."

"It's extinct now, but yeah."

Kamasaki goes quiet, trying to imagine a penguin with a few inches on Aone, and – more importantly – how he would go about fighting such a thing if it became necessary. Moniwa laughs hard when Kamasaki shares this with him.

"I think its beak was around – fifteen centimeters long," he says, and Kamasaki goes quiet again, in grimmer contemplation. He's still fairly sure he could win, but it wouldn't be pretty.

There's a cafe in the center of the zoo, and as they approach it, Kamasaki sees a possible redemption for being late and not paying for the tickets. When he offers, though, Moniwa says he's not hungry. Except Kamasaki is – suddenly _very_ hungry, so they stop. Kamasaki gets a meal and Moniwa gets a snack just to have something to do with his hands, but at the register, Kamasaki realizes he left his wallet at home.

"Never mind! Never mind, put it back," Kamasaki says, pushing the food back on the counter, but Moniwa just smiles, amused, and hands his card to the cashier. 

"This is turning out to be a pretty shitty date," Kamasaki groans, annoyed with himself.

"Kamasaki," Moniwa says, seriously. "Don't ruin a good moment, alright?"

Kamasaki bites down his complaints with himself, and nods. He remembers, in his past dates, being asked questions about himself – simple stuff, about his family and preferences. Nothing he said ever seemed right, was never the key to fit whatever lock his dates held over their interest. It's a weird feeling, now, in contrast, to make so many mistakes and be given calm, sincere forgiveness. 

This makes Kamasaki remember why he voted for Moniwa to be their captain. He's not just smart, but he's fair, and forgiving, and kind.

Whoever Moniwa chooses to be his boyfriend, Kamasaki thinks, eating the hot dog Moniwa bought him, will be a very lucky guy. 

It's getting late, and when they leave the cafe the lights for the evening have started switching on across the zoo. The families are packing up for the day, and couples walk pressed close together down the paths. 

Feeling a little more relaxed, Kamasaki puts a casual arm over Moniwa's shoulder – same as he would if it wasn't a date, just friends. They _are_ on a date, though, so this move obviously frazzles Moniwa, but the version of Moniwa he pictured in his head: wild eyed, frantic, is cartoonish compared to the truth. 

His eyes do go wide, but it's pleasant, and so is the pink spreading on his cheeks. 

Kamasaki grins, feeling flattered, now. None of the girls he dated reacted so positively to his attention. Has it always been like this? How long did Moniwa feel this way, how long could Kamasaki have reached out and gotten this reaction? 

"What about bats?" Kamasaki asks, prodding for more animal facts, but Moniwa shakes his head, shrugging. "Don't they mate for life?"

"Maybe?" Moniwa says. 

"I think they do," Kamasaki says, sure he's heard that before, but can't actually remember when or where.

They travel the rest of the zoo, and grows cold enough that Kamasaki is now thankful for his jacket. He makes a point of keeping Moniwa close, as his sweater doesn't look like enough to keep him warm.

"It's fine," Moniwa protests, but his voice wobbles, and he does not attempt to pull away. 

The gift shop is closed by the time they make it back to the front, not that Kamasaki could get them any souvenirs anyway. 

But, at least, he can take the train with Moniwa, and walk him to his door, properly. 

On a traditional – actual, real – date this is the most charged moment, the make or break, and Kamasaki can feel this energy building between them as they walk the street toward the familiar shape of Moniwa's home. The pauses grow a bit longer, more pointed, which doesn't make sense as there is no make or break here.

But, he guesses, there is a final word. A last say. 

They stand in front of Moniwa's door, caught in one of the lingering silences, Moniwa with his thumbs through in the belt loops of his jeans, twisting a little nervously, and Kamasaki can tell he's trying to figure out the best way to say goodnight. 

"So, uhm," Monisa clears his throat. "Thanks. For tonight."

"No problem," Kamasaki says, surprising himself at the sudden, low dip of his voice.

He's thinking again about the guy Moniwa will date one day. How Moniwa will be standing in front of him like this, wanting and nervous, and Kamasaki hopes whoever it is won't be dumb enough to let it to pass. It'd be so easy – he's so easy to please, wants so little – Kamasaki could give it, so whoever that guy is, eventually, better do it, too.

Moniwa is shorter than Kamasaki, so when he leans up he's got warning. 

Moniwa is going to kiss his cheek goodnight. 

Kamasaki goes numb with panic, standing there, frozen. Irrational fear is climbing up his throat, he can't pinpoint any actual consequence of a kiss on the cheek but his body still tenses, sure _something bad is going to happen_ but – equally powerful, is the knowledge that this is for Moniwa, that Moniwa wants it, and he can give it.

Moniwa's lips press against his cheek. 

He can feel the shape of them, soft, and dry. Kamasaki blinks, watching Moniwa's expression as he pulls back. His eyes are scrunched shut, he's on his tip toes, and he's blushing.

That. Wasn't something bad. 

It wasn't bad at all, being the guy Moniwa kissed. 

By the time Moniwa opens his eyes, looking up at him, Kamasaki knows there's an answering blush on his face, but he's still stuck, crushed between the two extremes. He opens his mouth but nothing comes out. 

Moniwa smiles weakly. "Thanks again."

He walks around Kamasaki, to the door.

"Oi – Oi, oi!!" Kamasaki shouts, coming back to himself, turning around and chasing him down.

"What? What is it??" Moniwa asks, startled, looking around for the threat Kamasaki is apparently trying to warn him of.

"Hey – uhm," Kamasaki leans against the wall above Moniwa's head, then realizes what he's doing, the posture, and pulls back quickly, rubbing at the back of his neck. 

"Kamasaki?" The time for an awkward goodnight was a few seconds ago, Kamasaki missed it, and Moniwa is looking up at him confused.

"Do – do you want to do that again?" Kamasaki asks. "Maybe?"

Moniwa stares. 

"A better one, this time," Kamasaki says.

"A better – date?"

"Yeah, uh – like – dinner – "

"Yes," Moniwa says, almost before he can get it out.

"There's a place – "

"Okay."

"Next week?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

"Okay," Moniwa nods once, smiling with bright eyes. He's the kind of happy that would have a cartoon character levitating clear into the air, and the sight stirs something deep in Kamasaki. 

He leans down and kisses him impulsively – wanting to touch that happiness, maybe. This is a better kiss, a real one, lip and lip, feeling Moniwa lean into it, taking what he can while he can. 

When he steps back they both take a moment to see if Kamasaki will regret it, and he surprises himself by actually wanting a second. 

Instead, he bites his lip.

"So," he says. "Next week?"

"Yes," Moniwa agrees. "Next week."

"Alright."

"Yes."

He ends up standing there until Moniwa closes the door to his home, and then a beat longer after that, as if held in place by a spell, entranced. After seeing the light turn on in the upstairs window, the one he knows Moniwa sleeps underneath, he finally turns to leave. He has a date next week, and he's got some high hopes.


End file.
